Vallahades

The Vallahades () or Valaades () also Patrioytlar were a Muslim-Greek people population of the Bektashi-Tarika who lived along the river Haliacmon in southwest Macedonia (Greece); in and around Anaselitsa (modern Neapoli) and Grevena. The Greek term Vallahades derived from the Muslim word Vallahi, the meaning of this word is: (By Allah). They were expelled from Greece to Turkey after the Treaty of Lausanne at The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. They settled there in East Thrace and Anatolia.Koukoudis, Asterios (2003). The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Zitros. p. 198. "In the mid-seventeenth century, the inhabitants of many of the villages in the upper Aliakmon valley-in the areas of Grevena, Anaselitsa or Voio, and Kastoria— gradually converted to Islam. Among them were a number of Kupatshari, who continued to speak Greek, however, and to observe many of their old Christian customs. The Islamicised Greek-speaking inhabitants of these areas came to be better known as "Valaades". They were also called "Foutsides", while to the Vlachs of the Grevena area they were also known as "Vlăhútsi". According to Greek statistics, in 1923 Anavrytia (Vrastino), Kastro, Kyrakali, and Pigadtisa were inhabited exclusively by Moslems (i.e Valaades), while Elatos (Dovrani), Doxaros (Boura), Kalamitsi, Felli, and Melissi (Plessia) were inhabited by Moslem Valaades and Christian Kupatshari. There were also Valaades living in Grevena, as also in other villages to the north and east of the town.... "Valaades" refers to Greek-speaking Moslems not only of the Grevena area but also of Anaselitsa. In 1924, despite even their own objections, the last of the Valaades being Moslems, were forced to leave Greece under the terms of the compulsory exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. Until then they had been almost entirely Greek-speakers. Many of the descendants of the Valaades of Anaseltisa, now scattered through Turkey and particularly Eastern Thrace (in such towns as Kumburgaz, Büyükçekmece, and Çatalca), still speak Greek dialect of Western Macedonia, which, significantly, they themselves call Romeïka "the language of the Romii". It is worth noting the recent research carried out by Kemal Yalçin, which puts a human face on the fate of 120 or so families from Anavryta and Kastro, who were involved in the exchange of populations. They set sail from Thessaloniki for Izmir, and from there settled en bloc in the village of Honaz near Denizli." and have become completely assimilated into the Turkish Muslim mainstream as Turks.Kappler, Matthias (1996). "Fra religione e lingua/grafia nei Balcani: i musulmani grecofoni (XVIII-XIX sec.) e un dizionario rimato ottomano-greco di Creta." Oriente Moderno. 15. (76): 86. "Accenni alla loro religiosità popolare mistiforme "completano" questo quadro, ridotto, sulla trasmissione culturale di un popolo illetterato ormai scornparso: emigrati in Asia minore dalla fine del secolo scorso, e ancora soggetti allo scambio delle popolazioni del 1923, i "Vallahades", o meglio i loro discendenti, sono ormai pienamente assimilati agli ambienti turchi di Turchia."
In Turkey this Group is known as Patriyotlar (Vatanseverler). The Patriyotlar once lived in the :en:Sanjak of Serfiğe. Because of their pro-Ottoman-Turkish attitude, at the Balkan Wars, this Group of Muslims were called patriōtēs (πατριώτης) by the Greeks. The name Patriyotlar in Turkish means Vatanseverler. At the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey about Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, this Muslim-Group was expelled by the Greeks and moved to Turkey and settled in Edirne, Lüleburgaz, Çorlu and Büyükçekmece in East Thrace and Samsun and Manisa and other Citys in Anatolia. The first Generation only speak Patriyotça a Macedonian-Greek dialect, and not Turkish, yet there descendants only speak Turkish and fully assimilated.https://www.refikengin.com/upload/files/2006/1136refikengin.pdf

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Category:Ethnic groups in Turkey